‘A wonderful evening’: School stages Community Concert for 180 guests

The School welcomed 180 local senior citizens to its annual Community Concert on Tuesday 27 February.

Guests were collected from their homes by a fleet of volunteer drivers and were warmly welcomed by Third Year boys, who are regular volunteers with the Tonbridge Community Action programme.

The evening was expertly compèred by Oli Bamford (JH5) and Rory Dalton (FH5), and opened with a stunning performance by the Hahn quartet, playing Haydn: Aaron Lee (PH4), Toby Xu (FH2), Oscar Mcllwham (PS5) and Jason Young (Sc4).

This was followed by some lyrical Glinka, featuring Debare Alade (FH4) on piano; some fantastic Horowitz by Nick Tam (MH2), clarinet; haunting Poulenc by Alex Rayment (WW4), oboe; and uplifting Haydn by Jason Young (Sc4) on cello.

The concert then moved to a jazzier theme, with a saxophone quartet made up of Alfie Rawlings (WW3) and Dylan Kieu (JH3) on altos, Freddie Skarbek (MH4) on tenor and Tristan Burnett (WW3) on baritone.

The ever-popular Big Band then took to the stage with a range of tracks from Blues and Samba, and ending with Dancing in the Street.

During the interval, guests were served hot drinks and cakes, and enjoyed a raffle, drawn by The Mayor and Mayoress of Tonbridge and Malling, Cllr James Lark and Mrs Jill Lark.

Prizes were also given out to the guest who has lived in Tonbridge the longest (97 years) and the most senior guest (99 years).

The second half comprised of musical numbers from shows past and present performed by students who have appeared in previous Tonbridge productions. Songs ranged from Oklahoma and West Side Story classics to modern numbers.

Throughout, Tonbridge boys were joined by girls from The Judd School and Hillview School for Girls. The evening ended with the company giving a rousing rendition of Seasons of Love from Rent.

There have been many letters of thanks from the guests. One wrote: “On behalf of the Residents of Castle Court, I want to thank you very, very much for the wonderful evening we were able to enjoy. The professionalism and enthusiasm was absolutely amazing, as it always is. It makes one feel that many of those who took part will have a musical future somewhere.”

Juliet Burnett, Community Action Manager, said “This is always one of the most joyous events of the year, and it is lovely to welcome back familiar faces. One lady told me that this was the only night out she has in February, and she looks forward to it all year.

“Thank you to all the musicians, staff, parents and boys who gave up their time to make this evening memorable for many in our community.”